wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure

[alittlemirror]

To say Jade is displeased would be an understatement. It's not that he cares about this detention tarnishing his record, no. He doesn't really care about his record. What he does care about is how it cuts into his studying time. He had just come across a particularly fascinating snippet on the nature of death and the soul...

(And besides, those Hufflepuffs had started it with their incessant chattering. They're like a less annoying version of Saphir, and nobody had ever really objected when he hexed Saphir. And it's not like he used a serious hex; he just sealed and removed their mouths. Easily reversible, if they knew what they were doing - and knew how to use nonverbal spells.

After all, what kind of first-year doesn't know how to use nonverbal spells?)

But someone had taken offense to his hex, and now he finds himself trudging to Professor Rammsteiner's office, growing increasingly irritated at the loss of his study time. From what he's heard of detentions, they usually entail doing useless, mundane tasks easily accomplished with a little creative wandwork. He's thought about ignoring Professor Rammsteiner's orders more than once, but he's also been told that it would just lead to more detentions and thus a bigger waste of time.

Oh well. He's here now. With one last irritated sigh, he raises his hand to the door and knocks.

"Professor Rammsteiner? This is Jade Curtiss."

Comments

[canicide]

A ball is far from Heine's idea of a good time. Dress robes are uncomfortable, teenagers are uncomfortably hormonal, and he's let down by a punch bowl that isn't spiked. He sips at a cup of it while glaring out at the crowd, daring anyone to touch more than hands.

By the time it winds down, Heine is ready to go to sleep. He plans to drop by the kitchens on the way. Right as he's about to go around a corner he hears the murmur of voices and he slows his pace. In the hall ahead are two familiar figures. The temptation to turn around is strong, but there's no other route. And anyway, Jade is about to leave, Heine notes. But just before that, he sees Eichel lean over him.

Maybe they kiss, but all Heine sees is that Eichel initiates.

After Jade turns the corner, Heine walks over fast. It makes him angry to see Eichel doing things like this--again.

[aseptic]

The ball had been a waste of time. He had gone with the first girl who had asked him out, and she had left him alone for most of the ball once she realized he wasn't at all interested. The only high point of the ball is speaking with Professor Eichel - and even then, they're restricted in what they can discuss while out in public.

(He had also been a little amused to see Professor Rammsteiner looking even more irritated than he feels, but then he decides to go back to ignoring him. It's easier that way.)

He's glad when it's over. Professor Eichel offers to walk him back to the dormitories and he accepts. They talk as they go, Professor Eichel's hand resting against his back; warm seeps through Jade, emanating from that point of contact.

They part ways just before they reach the dormitories. Professor Eichel kisses him - come see me tomorrow night - and Jade accepts the kiss quietly and nods.

All in all, the night could have been worse, he supposes.

And, just like that, it does get worse. He rounds the corner, only to be confronted by Professor Rammsteiner, striding right towards him. He looks annoyed, but Jade doesn't think much of it.

"Oh. Professor." He greets him flatly, and tries to walk past him.

[canicide]

"Stay here." The command slips out before Heine catches himself, and he knows the look he's giving him is angry. It's his own fault for letting Jade begin this in the first place, and now, for some reason, he just can't leave it alone. Eichel hasn't moved yet, and Heine closes the distance between them at a fast walk, leaving Jade a few feet away if he obeys the order to stay.

"What are you doing?" he demands of the other professor. Heine finds himself almost growling the question, but a deep breath and he pushes the strange fury down to something quieter, more contained, even as he looks Eichel in the eye. "You—you wanted this."

Maybe Heine had wanted it too, but Jade had asked it from him. With Eichel, what he'd seen, and what he'd heard about him during his years at Durmstrang, he thinks that Eichel had been the one to bring it up in the first place. Even if Jade had agreed, it's—it's on Eichel, who's older, who shouldn't have.

Heine shouldn't have either, of course. Even with the excuses he could make, he can admit that it's guilt that's eating away at him, piled on top of that regret crawling up his spine, the same as it was since he hurt her. He's angry with himself, too, and it shows.

[aseptic]

Professor Rammsteiner tells him to stay, but when he goes storming off, Jade doesn't think twice about following. He doesn't think he's seen Professor Rammsteiner this angry before. He hadn't even thought that Professor Rammsteiner is capable of this sort of anger.

Despite himself, he's fascinated. He rounds the corner again, staying back for now, watching the confrontation.

"Heine," Professor Eichel is saying, smooth-voiced, "Slow down. Think. You're making no sense."

He's bad at thinking, in Jade's opinion, but he keeps that thought to himself.

[canicide]

After a moment of bristling at being told to slow down, Heine does, hands flexing at his sides.

"You and Jade. I saw—" He pauses. He wouldn't put it beyond Jade to have told Eichel how they'd had sex already, but it isn't like he has proof. On the other hand, he'd just seen them being intimate in a public hall.

"Did you ask him to have sex with you in return for—for teaching him Dark Arts?"

[aseptic]

So that's what this is about. Jade had guessed already. What he doesn't understand is why Professor Rammsteiner is making a scene. It's not as if he hasn't done the same. Jade opens his mouth, ready to answer, but Professor Eichel speaks before he can.

"I did, yes. What about you? Did you ask for sex in return for wandless magic?" He doesn't smile, but there's an amused note in his voice. "No, you're too good for that, aren't you?"

[canicide]

Heine's spine stiffens in reaction, figurative hackles rising. He almost bares his teeth when he responds.

"I didn't ask."

He doesn't back down. Eichel is close to him now, close enough that Heine could reach out and grab him. And he's tempted to—but resists, barely. They're still out in the hall.

[aseptic]

Professor Eichel smiles. "No, you didn't. You just took advantage."

Jade is starting to get tired of listening to them bicker back and forth like this. Neither of them are making sense, and he has the feeling there's more going on beneath the surface, perhaps something related to Durmstrang. Regardless, he steps in - or tries to, at least.

"You're both misinterpreting the situation," he says bluntly, half-tempted to just leave. But he's not Professor Rammsteiner. He'll nip this in the bud, before it can get out of hand.

[canicide]

Focused as he had been on Eichel, Heine starts slightly when he hears Jade speak.

"What am I misinterpreting?" His voice is quiet, but almost seething. What does Jade know? He'd been the one to ask for it. "What did you tell him?"

Even Heine doesn't know why he's this angry. Maybe there's something in Jade that makes him want to protect, even when he's spent so long not even trying.

[aseptic]

"Nothing." He hadn't mentioned Professor Rammsteiner. But Professor Rammsteiner had left plenty of marks on him; he assumes Professor Eichel saw and put two and two together. He's clever, observant. Someone Jade can respect.

"But that's not the point," he continues. "You're getting angry over nothing."

Professor Eichel nods in agreement, and Jade hopes that's the end of the situation. Unfortunately, Professor Eichel just goes on to ask: "Why don't we talk about this in private?"

[canicide]

It's not nothing. Heine opens his mouth, about to speak again before Eichel interrupts.

"...fine." They probably shouldn't be talking about this out in the open anyway. He follows when Eichen leads them past the dormitories, upstairs to the professors' quarters.

[aseptic]

They probably make an odd sight, a Hogwarts student in Durmstrang flanked by two professors, but (thankfully) no one is around to see. Professor Eichel nods to him once they enter the room, and Jade raises his wand, swiftly casting a few locking charms and soundproofing charms. It's what he does every time they have one of their sessions.

"Some tea, Heine?" Professor Eichel offers as Jade is busy casting his charms.

[canicide]

Though he enters the room and the door is shut, Heine stays standing as close to the door as possible. He watches Jade cast protection spells, mildly curious despite himself. Jade hadn't done that in his room. He looks back at Eichel when he speaks.

"No." Why would he drink tea at a time like this? "I heard about you while I was here." Heine's staring at Eichel, for once not looking away. "You and students."

[aseptic]

There's a table in the room with two chairs. Professor Eichel sits down and, as usual, Jade takes the other seat. Deciding to listen for the moment, Jade sets the enchanted teapot to boiling with a tap of his wand, then pours tea for himself and Professor Eichel.

"And you find that...wrong?" Professor Eichel says, a polite expression of doubt on his face. "I find that hard to believe."

[canicide]

Right. Of course. He's done it already—with Jade, how can he sit there and make tea?—so nothing he says has any weight.

But Eichel. While he'd been studying at Durmstrang, there'd been rumors that he'd heard, and students that left school and didn't come back.

"I think you're wrong," he says after a moment. "You did this to other students."

laughs at u

[aseptic]

"I did," Eichel agrees. Jade shifts a little, uncomfortable, as Professor Eichel rests a hand on his thigh, but he relaxes quickly. It's nothing that hasn't happened before - Professor Eichel seems to like touching him, and he isn't shy about making it known.

"But," he continues, "I make them an offer. I made sure they knew what they were doing. You, Heine, did you even talk to Jade properly? You've always been bad at words."

:'(

[canicide]

He hadn't made an offer, but Jade had. Isn't that enough?

"I did." Heine watches Eichel's arm move, trying not to grit his teeth.

"And what do know about me?" He'd gone to school here years ago, and he'd never interacted much with Eichel. Tried not to, anyway.

[aseptic]

Professor Eichel's hand is moving, slowly palming up and down his thigh. Jade sips at his tea quietly, not speaking up in support of either side; this is a waste of time, as far as he's concerned.

But he knows better than to completely stop paying attention to the situation. Professor Eichel wants something, that much is clear.

"You were one of my students," Professor Eichel is saying. "I pay attention to my students - especially ones covered in such powerful Dark Magic."

Dark Magic? Jade's head lift, staring at Professor Rammsteiner.

[canicide]

Heine can't stop looking. He can't tear his gaze away from the movement of Eichel's hand on Jade's leg. He can't not think about how Jade looked, undressed.

At Eichel's comment Heine's gaze snaps back to his face. He's not surprised that Eichel noticed. Particularly at that age he'd had no control over what leaked out from the seal they'd tried to put on him.

"So what?" Heine crosses his arms. He wants to leave, and not deal with this. Not any of this. But he has to know how much Eichel has on him.

[aseptic]

"Hmm," Professor Eichel's hand moves again, cupping Jade through his robes. Jade looks down, into his tea, grip tightening on the handle. "You're interested."

There's a slightly abstracted look in Professor Eichel's eyes as he meets Heine's red gaze. He's quiet for a moment, then his expression clears. "You want to know what I know, do you? I can make you a deal."

Jade's breath hitch as Eichel grinds the base of his palm against him, slow and languid. "Jade, move to the bed," the Professor says.

A little shakily, he sets the tea down and gets to his feet.

[canicide]

Heine's mouth tightens. He hadn't meant to be so transparent—or, didn't think he was. As Jade rises from the table Heine looks down, but his robes hang loosely enough that he can see nothing.

"Stop." He says, after a long moment of effort. "Fuck off. I don't want a deal with you. Stop ordering him around." Heine's looking back down at the ground, wanting something to twist or fidget with but finding no distraction.

[aseptic]

"Then what did you come here for?" Professor Eichel asks, echoing Jade's thoughts. Jade idles by the side of the bed, waiting to see what would happen. He doubts he'd like the result, but...

It isn't really a matter of what he likes or dislikes. This is just business. He's minimizing distractions by satisfying his body's urges, and at the same time gaining knowledge that he needs.

It's just a matter of logic.

[canicide]

"Because you should stop," Heine snaps. It's a useless demand and he knows it. But he means it, still, because he hates the thought of Eichel or anyone else taking advantage of people who are too young. Even if that means he's considering himself just as bad.

"I'm leaving," he continues after a long moment. "You can't do this to anyone else."

He doesn't mean to make it a warning, just a statement. Heine turns towards the door. If Eichel knows, then he knows—about him and Jade and the curse. He doesn't want to deal with seeing it anymore.

[aseptic]

When Professor Eichel speaks again, it's not to Professor Rammsteiner.

"Jade, hold him."

Hold him? Jade knows how to, of course, and he raises his wand, but he doesn't cast anything. Not yet. Raising his wand against Professor Rammsteiner is something he hasn't done yet, not in earnest, and in this case he isn't sure what's to be gained by holding him here.

"He shouldn't be able to get out with the locking charms in place," Jade ventures. "If you two still need to talk."

Privately, he thinks there's little to be resolved with words at this stage. A Memory Charm would solve things far more neatly.

[canicide]

Heine's hand rests on the doorknob. Back turned to the other two, he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up. An attempt to turn the knob is futile, though he'd known that already.

"I don't have anything to say to you," he says, still facing the door. Heine doesn't turn around, waiting for either Eichel to speak or for Jade to release the charm, and he doesn't see Eichel lift his wand.

"Imperius."

Heine feels it hit him, but it's too late. As soon as it does, the sensation spreads through his back and up through the base of his skull, into his mind. It sweeps everything out in its wake.

His hand stays on the doorknob, but most of his muscles go lax and he sighs, leaning his forehead against the door. What was he doing, just now? Talking to Eichel and Jade, right, because he'd seen them kissing in the hallway. And it's wrong. He knows that. But what was he going to do about it?

Eichel beckons for Jade's attention. "It's easy, you see. Particularly with someone like him. Go on—" He gestures for Jade to go forward and investigate.